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Leo was right. Cesare was the perfect choice for a marriage. We couldn’t ask for a better solution to this mess.

The gathering horde of black suits did nothing to calm my nerves as we approached the monument. At least two hundred people stood around the grave waiting for us.

Several rows of folding chairs had been set up at the graveside, each one with a paper nametag attached to it. No one was sitting in them yet. They had to wait for Leo and me to take our places first.

Nicky flanked me on the other side, walking way too close to me. My gaze darted around behind my sunglasses. I struggled to breathe when I realized just how many people turned up to my father’s funeral.

A few people came forward to greet Leo. They started by shaking his hand and kissing him on both cheeks. Then, after the first few well-wishers, it turned into a free-for-all with everyone coming over to get his attention.

He had to pull his arm away from my hand, and in a second, the crowd swallowed him. A bunch of people mobbed around me, trying to do the same thing to me, but Nicky moved in to block them.

He grabbed my elbow, pulled me behind him, extended his arm in front of him, and started plowing through the throng toward the seats.

He leaned close to me and murmured under his breath, “Don’t step on anyone. Your high heels would puncture a lung.”

I smacked my lips in annoyance. He was back to his old nasty self dropping these side remarks now that Leo wasn’t around to hear him.

I tried to ignore him, but when we got near the seats, I froze when I saw Cesare standing across the grave.

He stood with his father and uncles and a bunch of their other relatives, but I couldn’t stop staring at Cesare. He looked exactly the way I remembered, only bigger and older.

Curly, red-brown hair hugged the top of his head with buzzed sides. Laughing green eyes locked right on me. His black suit made him look even more striking, and he definitely recognized me too.

“Put your tongue back in your mouth or you might as well consummate the marriage right here on your father’s casket,” Nicky snarled.

I snapped around to glare at him, but I couldn’t lash out at him here. He carved a path to the seats and hissed low where only I could hear him. “Now, sit down and don’t move if you know what’s good for you.”

I stared at him in shock. Was that supposed to be a threat? This wasn’t the first time I wondered that about something he said. He went out of his way to be nasty to me. I could never figure out why he hated me so much. I never did anything to him.

I sat down in the seat assigned to me, and a second later, Leo took his seat next to me. That was the signal for all the other mourners to do the same thing. The higher-ranked ones sat down, and everyone else gathered around the grave.

I burst into tears all over again as soon as the service started. Leo and at least a dozen other people gave speeches about my father, what a great leader he was, what a stabilizing influence he was on the New York mob world, and how much he would be missed. How could I even think about getting married so soon after losing him?

I took off my sunglasses to dab my eyes and became suddenly aware of Cesare’s staring at me from across the grave. He never took his eyes off me, not even when his father got up to give a speech too.

Did Cesare find me as attractive as I found him? I never dreamed he could grow up to be such a hunk. His eyes alone made me want to slide off my chair in a puddle of breathless excitement.

I shouldn’t even be thinking about him right in front of Papa’s coffin, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it—about him.

My gaze migrated down his suit. I checked out his body from behind the protection of my sunglasses. He took care of himself over the years, and he wore his suit like something off the cover of a magazine.

I barely noticed the service ending until Leo got up, tossed a shovelful of dirt on top of my father’s casket, and held out his hand to help me stand up.

I did the same thing, and that sent me into another flood of tears, but I got distracted again when people came forward to press my hand and offer me their condolences.

After that, the funeral dissolved into the social occasion everyone wanted it to be. Nicky stuck to me like glue through the whole thing, especially since Leo had his own well-wishers to deal with.

I couldn’t even see Leo in the crowd. Nicky actually turned out to be an asset more than once. He drove away people who were too pushy or who just wouldn’t get the message to shove off.

“They’ll be moving in to sleep on your bedroom floor,” he muttered. “You’ll have to get used to sharing the covers.”

I looked away to avoid responding and spotted Cesare again. Why wasn’t he coming over?

“Here comes Macy Russo,” Nicky murmured. “Break out your nuclear fallout mask.”

I almost burst out laughing and took the opportunity to dart away into the crowd. I veered around a few mourners and headed for the Terranovas.

Cesare saw me coming and detached himself from his father and uncles. He put space between himself and his family, and he burst into a massive grin when I reached him. “I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you.”


Tags: Raven Blaire Erotic